


Now I'm Shining Too

by thecivilunrest



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Coffee, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-25
Updated: 2014-10-25
Packaged: 2018-02-22 13:14:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2509109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecivilunrest/pseuds/thecivilunrest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Maybe you were a horrible person in your past life, and were supposed to be a termite in this life only the wheel made a miscalculation and now you’re just a human stuck with termite-like luck.” </p><p>/Or, Yachi is obsessed with coffee and can't really take a hint.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Now I'm Shining Too

**Author's Note:**

> I actually had a pretty bad night tonight and wanted to write something cute with lesbians. So I did.
> 
> (Also I know that in universe Yachi calls Kiyoko 'senpai' but I didn't include that here because I wasn't sure if that's how stuff works in college and also because I'm a failure and it's 4am I'm sorry.)

The great thing about coffee, Yachi decided, was how it could be anything that you wanted it to be when you hadn’t slept in thirty-six hours. After three days coffee could be your best friend, your worst enemy, or the thing that kept you up at night. Sometimes, it could be all of the above. 

But just when she needed it most, her coffee maker busted on her. No longer would it heat up the water, it also began to make strange noises and eat the strainer. The little coffee maker that could--one she had found held together by super glue and hope, all for the excellent price of nine hundred yen at a yard sale on the other side of Tokyo--was no more. 

“Noooo,” she moaned, and hit it one more time, as though that would make it behave. The coffee maker spit at her in response before the bright orange light finally died, leaving her alone to face the rest of her weekend. 

 

While Yachi preferred homemade coffee--if only because it was cheaper, and she wasn’t limited to only one cup a serving--she did go to Starbucks twice a month. The stuff she brewed at home just couldn’t beat the five-hundred-yen-a-cup taste of capitalism and American corporations. 

After twelve hours without coffee, the fresh brewed scent of the Starbucks right across the street from campus had the same effect as a few pumps of oxygen. Yachi perked up instantly, and there was only a faint layer of exhaustion weighing her down when she finally got to the front of the line. 

“What can I get you, Yachi-san?” Hinata asked with a smile. He looked unfairly awake, and unfairly bright, but then, he always did. He was like a beam of pure sunlight, even though Yachi knew that he’d been at work for at least four hours at this point.

“The usual,” she told him. 

“One hot caramel macchiato, coming right up,” he said, ringing her up and giving her the receipt. 

Yachi stuffed it into her bag without looking at it--that five hundred yen could have been better spent on anything else! Like a new skirt, she could practically hear her mother screaming--when she realized Hinata was speaking to her. 

“You look really out of it today,” he said, laughing a bit. She made a face at him. 

“You really think so?” Yachi made a sweeping motion at her sweats, make-up free face that she had barely remembered to wash that morning, and unbrushed hair. This lovely ensamble was of course, topped off by four practically sleepless nights where she’d worked on the art project that she was turning in that day. “I would have described this as ‘looking like shit.’” 

“I wouldn’t say one of our best customers looked like _shit_ exactly,” Hinata was saying, when his co-worker, Kageyama, cut him off. 

“If you have the time to tell a customer that she looks like shit then you have time to help me,” he groused, frowning like a kitten forced to take a bath. 

Hinata rolled his eyes at Yachi before turning around. “I would never tell a customer she looked bad, Kageyama-kun. I’m not like _you_.” 

And then they were off and running. Knowing Hinata and Kageyama on both a professional and personal level also meant that she knew they could go at each other for a while. They liked to bicker, even though they would swear up and down that it was the opposite, Yachi had also caught them kissing once at a party. Neither of them knew that she knew but oh, she knew. She’d known since before they did, probably. They were both rather slow boys, especially when it came to feelings. 

Yachi would have been content to wait for her caramel macchiato listening to Hinata and Kageyama argue when suddenly _she_ walked in. 

She being Kiyoko Shimizu, Yachi’s beautiful, unattainable, and perfect crush. She’d had a thing for her since her first year of art school and Kiyoko had offered to help her study for anatomy when she’d found Yachi in tears and covered in a sea of notecards. 

With Kiyoko’s help Yachi had ended up with a B in Anatomy, and an infatuation that she couldn’t quite staunch, not even a year later. It was a horrible fate, but since it was one that kept her from having to repeat the one science course in her degree plan, Yachi decided it was one that she could bear. 

Yachi prayed to all the gods that she knew, and Buddha too, that Kiyoko wouldn’t notice her, but of course, none of them spared her any pity. Kiyoko smiled when she saw Yachi--a real smile, one that could make buds bloom and sparrows sing and Yachi’s stomach go a little melty. 

“Hitoka-chan,” Kiyoko said, walking straight to where Yachi was waiting for her coffee instead of the cash register. Yachi prayed for the gods to smite her, strike her with a lightning bolt, make the floor come out from underneath her, but of course nothing like that happened either. Not when the last thing Yachi wanted was for Kiyoko to see how disgusting she looked at the moment. “I didn’t know that you drink coffee.” 

“Oh, I live off of it!” Yachi said, laughing at herself a bit too loudly. She promptly felt the urge to punch herself in the face. What kind of thing was that to admit, for one thing, and for another why was she so awkward? Why couldn’t Yachi have always been totally calm and collected and _beautiful_ , the way Kiyoko always was. Then they would match and Yachi might actually have a chance. 

But as it was Yachi was a hot mess on a bad day, and a small mess on a good. No amount of make-up or hair product would ever make her as naturally beautiful as Kiyoko--and God knew she had tried. 

“That sounds...unfortunate,” Kiyoko said, sounding a bit concerned. Her lips twitched at the corners, though, giving away the fact that she probably wanted to laugh. “You know, if you want to eat food instead of living off coffee, for once-” 

Before Kiyoko could finish that thought, Hinata called out, “One venti caramel macchiato,” allowing Yachi to make her escape. She could have kissed him, even though kissing boys was always the last thing on her to-do list. 

“That’s me!” she said, letting out that awful nervous laugh again. Did she always sound like this when she was unsettled? God, she hoped not. “Sorry, Kiyoko-san! I really need to turn in a project.” 

And after she was done with that she could go to sleep and pretend all of this was just a very bad dream. 

“Ah. Next time then,” Kiyoko said. Yachi nodded and rushed out the door, coffee in one hand and project carrier in the other. 

 

“Oh Gooooood,” Yachi groaned into the phone, after she had gotten all the necessary hours of sleep that she needed. “That was awful. And humiliating. Why me, Hinata? Why me?” 

“Karma, I guess. Maybe you were a horrible person in your past life, and were supposed to be a termite in this life only the wheel made a miscalculation and now you’re just a human stuck with termite-like luck.” 

“You know, I wouldn’t doubt that was the reason why.” She sighed and threw an arm over her eyes. 

“If it makes you feel better, I think Kiyoko was trying to ask you out.” 

“What?! You’re joking! If you thought that then why did you call out my order right in the middle of what she was saying?”

“It’s my job. Plus, you looked like you kind of looked like you wanted to float away into outer space rather than stand there for one more minute.” 

“Did I really? Oh _no._ I hope Kiyoko-san didn’t get that impression.” 

Hinata laughed, sounding far away. “I’m sure she didn’t. I’ve got to go, Kageyama made dinner. See you tomorrow.” 

When she hung up, Yachi stared at her hands in horror, before flopping onto her back on the bed. _She_ hadn’t thought that Kiyoko had been asking her out on a date. But if Hinata--the oblivious boy wonder--thought so then maybe she had. 

Yachi didn’t need coffee to stay awake that night. Instead, all it took was her own stupidity. 

 

She was going to be spending an entire paycheck from the art gallery on this keurig, but she had been reassured time and time again that it was completely worth it. Of course she trusted the employee, who was being paid to say this, one hundred percent. Though, as long as she didn’t have to keep shelling out over a thousand yen for coffee a week anymore, she would have bought a demon coffee maker, at any price.

Yachi was just about to head for the line when she found herself colliding into someone. She looked up, apology on her tongue, when she that Kiyoko was the one that she had ran into. 

Well, at least she had brushed her hair today. 

“I’m _so_ sorry,” she apologized with agony in her voice, watching Kiyoko adjust her glasses hopefully without looking like a creep. 

“It’s okay,” Kiyoko said, smilingly softly. Yachi could feel her whole body melting, threatening to turn her into a puddle on the floor. Honestly, Kiyoko’s smiles could classified as a biological weapon. Good thing they so rarely happened. Except around Yachi, which was a bit odd, but then Yachi had always been described as “funny.” 

“Sorry,” Yachi apologized again. “I’m just going to go. Pay for this now.” And then die from Kiyoko induced embarrassment from the second time this week. 

“After you’re done would you like to hang out? A couple of us are going to head to Yoyogi and listen to some of the kids from the music school if you want to come.” 

“Oh. I, uh. I can’t. I’ve got big plans.” She shook the keurig box. “You know how it is.” 

Kiyoko’s smile faded a little bit, and Yachi knew instantly that she had made the wrong choice. Why did there never seem to be a right one, with Kiyoko?

“I understand,” Kiyoko said. “Have a good time.” She smiled again, but this time it seemed a bit half-hearted. Yachi definitely mentally punched herself in the face then. 

“I will,” she managed to squeak out, unsure if Kiyoko heard her. Then she took a deep breath and went to buy the damn keurig. 

 

Yachi was already miserable when her phone rang. She was sorely tempted not to answer when she saw that it was her mother. But Yachi was a big girl and not answering the phone was childish, so she put her big girl pants on one leg at a time, and answered. 

“How is my only daughter?” her mother asked. 

“Couldn’t be better,” Yachi answered, even though that was pretty far from the truth. Her keurig was still in its box, mocking her for saying something so stupid just that afternoon. 

“Good, then you can come home to visit this weekend.” 

“Mom! You can’t just make that decision for me!” 

“I haven’t seen you in months. Please?” 

Yachi’s mother worked in advertising--she knew exactly how to say things to get people to do what she wanted. Yachi had known that for years, had grown up around it, and yet her mother still managed to work her magic on Yachi too. 

“Fine,” Yachi sighed. “I’ll come home next week.” She spent a few more moments talking to her mother about the specifics before finally hanging up the phone. Then she looked at the box with the keurig. 

“It’s on,” she told it. The box didn’t respond, but if she squinted her eyes and turned her head enough she was sure that it trembled in fear. 

 

Yachi hadn’t even packed yet, and she was leaving this afternoon. If art school had taught her anything, it was that leaving things to the last minute often created last minute strokes of genius. Now she was applying this hypothesis to all aspects of her life, even the mundane things like packing. 

That, and she was still reluctant to go back to her hometown for the weekend. This was why she decided to linger in the library instead of going home and packing the way a sensible person would. 

Just as she was putting her books into her backpack she spotted Kiyoko. Her heart immediately froze in shock as she stared. Then she double checked herself. She’d brushed her hair, was wearing cute clothes, _and_ she had even put on mascara and eyeliner on this morning. 

Today was going to be her day. She was going to have a normal conversation with Kiyoko for once. She was determined. 

She was prepared when Kiyoko made a beeline to her, and even smiled like a normal person. “I know this is kind of sudden,” Kiyoko started, eyes wide, “but I have an extra movie ticket if you’d like to go with me. It’s that new romantic comedy, and one of my friends can’t make it, so I was hoping that you wanted to?” 

She looked so hopeful in that moment too, like going to that movie with Yachi was something that she really wanted to do. 

It clicked, in that moment. Kiyoko liked Yachi. She liked _Yachi_ , and evidently liked her enough to ask her on multiple dates despite the fact that she’d been cut off or misunderstood the previous two times. 

Yachi wished that the third time was the charm. 

“I’m sorry,” Yachi said. “I’m going home to visit my mom for the weekend.” No really, she wanted to press. My mother likes to see me so that she can comment on how I look and how I’m doing in school so she can know that I’m making her proud. Please believe me. 

She didn’t want to seem like she was making excuses, though, so she said none of that. 

“I understand,” Kiyoko said. “I won’t bother you anymore then. I’m sorry.” She smiled, but this time it wasn’t at full brightness, and walked away before Yachi could say anything else. 

Yachi sat back down and tried not to cry. 

 

“She should be in here any minute now,” Hinata said. 

“This is creepy,” Kageyama added his two cents as he placed the drinks Yachi had ordered--her normal caramel macchiato and Kiyoko’s lavender earl grey onto the counter for her to grab them. 

“Don’t start,” Hinata told him. “Really, she’s a regular. Any minute now and WHAP there she is.” 

He and Kageyama got into “position”--really just where they were supposed to be, since they were technically on the clock--when Kiyoko walked in. 

She looked gorgeous as always, but particularly today because the wind speed had picked up and her cheeks were pink from it, hair wind mussed. It was a charming looking that only Kiyoko could pull off, Yachi was sure. 

Kiyoko smiled a little when she saw Yachi, which was the only reason Yachi felt even the slightest bit of hope. Even after all the times she had “rejected” Kiyoko without meaning to. 

“Do you want to drink this with me?” Yachi asked, holding out Kiyoko’s tea. To Yachi’s eternal relief, Kiyoko nodded. 

“Yes,” she said, and went to find them a table. Maybe, Yachi thought, this wouldn’t be so impossible after all. 

 

One of Kiyoko’s worst flaws was that she was an early riser. Even when she didn’t mean to she’d wake Yachi up almost every morning. Yachi got used to it eventually, being able to fall back asleep in about two seconds, but it was still a flaw. 

There were good things about this habit, though. One of which being that Kiyoko was the one to make the coffee in the morning. There were few things better than waking up to a steaming hot cup of joe on one side, and Kiyoko on the other. 

“Good morning,” Kiyoko said and kissed Yachi on the cheek, the way she always did once they had started living together. 

Yachi knew it would be.


End file.
